Mr. Speaker, since yesterday, workers and citizens of Chambord have been occupying the Agropur plant to prevent this business that has closed from dismantling plant equipment.

Until recently, this plant was processing millions of litres of locally produced milk. As a result of an administrative decision, all processing activities were transferred outside the Lac-Saint-Jean region.

A region such as ours relies for its existence on its capacity to process locally the raw materials it produces. What Agropur did in the case of the Chambord plant shows that resource regions are being gutted to benefit large centres.

Enough is enough. The Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean will not fall once again victim to a company which, following a takeover, will take milk produced in our region and process it elsewhere.

I wholeheartedly support the people who are occupying the Agropur plant in Chambord. Agropur must not be allowed to take away from us what is ours.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today and ask the House to join me in recognizing the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Kids for a Cure Lobby Day on Parliament Hill and the need for government policies that will cure juvenile diabetes. Forty children with juvenile Type 1 diabetes, from all regions of Canada, will meet with members of Parliament to share their experiences.

This morning I met with three of these young people, Zachary McCaskill, Mark Hosak and Logan Wright, who explained to me how their reliance upon insulin affects their lives. They stressed the need for decision-makers to support innovative research advances.

Juvenile diabetes is a serious disease affecting more than 200,000 Canadians who require daily insulin injections to live. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic amputations, adult blindness, stroke, heart attacks and a leading cause of death in Canada. Over 2 million Canadians suffer from diabetes.

I ask the House to join me in sharing our hope and excitement that ongoing support for research will discover a cure for diabetes.

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to add our voice of support for the more than 200,000 Canadians who live with juvenile diabetes, a disease that requires them to take insulin. As a nation we need to facilitate the efforts of medical practitioners and researchers in their efforts to find a cure. The pain and suffering of patients with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes cannot be overstated. The work of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as well as the Canadian Diabetes Foundation puts a human face on these statistics.

Today, along with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, over 40 children from across the country are here in Ottawa to meet with MPs, sharing their experiences of living with this disease. The foundation's Kids for a Cure will help encourage members of all parties to engage in this cause and work collectively. The Edmonton protocol, from the University of Alberta, as well as the work being done at McGill University, has provided hope for medical breakthroughs.

On behalf of my colleagues in the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and all members, I wish to express a welcome and our support for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Yann Martel for winning the coveted Man Booker Prize on October 24 for his book Life of Pi . The prize is awarded for the best work of fiction. It is one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world and symbolizes the ultimate recognition of a work.

After having travelled for several years throughout Europe and Canada, Yann Martel studied philosophy at Trent University and began writing. His second novel, Life of Pi , is a story of adventure and a reflection on religion and the nature of animals, the two-footed, and the four-footed kind. According to Martel, “it is a story that will make you believe in God, or question your lack of faith”.

Canada remains a force to be contended with in the field of literature throughout the world. We are proud of our authors and of all of our artists.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the South Asians in Ontario Association I rise today to extend my personal invitation to all members of the House to attend the Diwali celebration tonight on Parliament Hill in Room 200, West Block.

The Diwali festival of lights is celebrated by many members of the South Asian community around the world. It commemorates the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom after completing 14 years in exile. Streets and homes are lighted with rows of lights. The festival symbolizes the victory of righteousness over evil and of light over darkness. Hindus and others join their families and friends in celebrating it with prayers, sweets, exchanges of gifts and fireworks. This occasion also marks the beginning of the Hindu new year.

The event is being celebrated in Room 200, West Block, tonight at 6:30 or right after the votes. I encourage all members to attend this celebration with our Diwali friends.

Mr. Speaker, the entire Lanaudière region will be watching full of pride on Friday, when Father Lindsay receives the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts, during the ceremony for Governor General's Performing Arts Awards.

Appointed head of the Jeunesses musicales de Joliette in 1957, a founder of the Festival-Concours de musique de Lanaudière in 1961, he founded the Lanaudière musical camp six years later. That same year, he created the Centre culturel de Joliette, which won the ADISQ award that year for broadcasting. In 1978, he founded the famous Festival d'été de Lanaudière, of which he is artistic director.

For almost half a century, a great many young and not so young people from Lanaudière and Quebec have become hooked on classical music, thanks to him.

Father Lindsay, the musical and artistic communities of Lanaudière and all of Quebec congratulate you, and thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I stand on behalf of the men and women of our Coast Guard from the west coast, the east coast, and out of the central and Arctic divisions.

Ever since the Coast Guard merged with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans we have seen nothing but disaster after disaster happen to our Coast Guard facilities across this country, from destaffing of lighthouses to decommissioning buoys across the waterways and navigable waters, as well as the tying up of ships.

The reality of the situation is that we simply cannot defend our coastlines from illegal fishing, environmental pollution, illegal immigration and so on. The men and women of our Coast Guard deserve a lot better from the government.

I encourage the government through the minister of DFO to put the resources into DFO to ensure that our Coast Guard is a viable operation now and in the future.

Mr. Speaker, at yesterday's federal-provincial meeting all provinces rejected the federal PowerPoint presentation on the Kyoto accord as totally inadequate. The provinces all expect to have major impacts on their economies and they are calling for a first ministers' conference before ratification of the accord.

Why will the Prime Minister not work cooperatively with the provinces, develop a real plan, and agree to a first ministers' conference before ratification?

Mr. Speaker, we have been working with the provinces for years on this file. In fact we started to talk about climate change in 1990 and we are in 2002 today.

My ministers have been involved in many federal-provincial conferences over the years. There was one yesterday. They made progress and there will be another one three weeks from now. We should let the ministers work.

However, a lot of people would like us to delay and delay, and that is not the plan of the government. The time has come for us to make up our minds.

Mr. Speaker, the government did nothing for five years on the Kyoto accord. It can now take the time to do things right.

After five years the government has no clear targets, no specific actions, and no comprehensive set of cost estimates. This accord will also have an impact on provincial jurisdiction. Without a first ministers' conference there will be no provincial cooperation.

Can the Prime Minister explain to us, how can the federal government possibly implement the Kyoto accord without provincial consent and cooperation?

Mr. Speaker, it is the same situation for the provincial government and the federal government. We must respect our international obligations and we must respect the desire of Canadians to do something about climate change.

Mr. Speaker, this party says we do not have to accept the Kyoto accord; we will do the made in Canada plan here. We will not accept this international obligation.

The government continues to talk about ratification of Kyoto with no implementation plan and now without even provincial consent for an implementation plan. The federal government, acting alone, has very limited options.

Will the Prime Minister admit to the House that for the federal government acting alone on Kyoto this will require major tax increases on energy consumption?

Mr. Speaker, we have made a lot of progress on Kyoto since 1990. The provincial governments, municipalities and federal government have made a lot of changes and more changes will come. New technology will come. In the past Canada has met some reductions on pollution problems because Canadians want to have clean energy and a clean situation in Canada.

I know that we will achieve the goal of Kyoto by 2012. We have 10 years to develop the final plan. We are not about to die tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, the chaos within the government is obvious. The natural resources minister has stated that nuclear generated electricity requires a serious look in the fight on climate change. The environment minister has said nuclear energy will not be considered.

What I have said is that in the long term, in order to deal with climate change, we need to deal with all forms of energy. In the long term, in terms of nuclear, we should keep the door open on that option. Whenever we can create energy without creating greenhouse gas emissions we need to look at all our options as we move into the future.